Originally published in hardcover in 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [298]-300) and index.

Though the American Revolution is widely recognized as our nation's founding story, the years immediately following the war-when our government was a disaster and the country was in a terrible crisis-were in fact the most crucial in establishing the country's independence. The group of men who traveled to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 had no idea what kind of history their meeting would make. But all their ideas, arguments, and compromises-from the creation of the Constitution itself, article by article, to the insistence that it remain a living, evolving document-laid the foundation for a government that has surpassed the founders' greatest hopes. Revisiting all the original historical documents of the period and drawing from her deep knowledge of eighteenth-century politics, Carol Berkin opens up the hearts and minds of America's founders, revealing the issues they faced, the times they lived in, and their humble expectations of success.